The invention relates to an apparatus on a carding machine for textile fibres, for example, cotton, synthetic fibres and the like, comprising revolving card flat bars equipped with clothing.
In certain known revolving card flat assemblies a space is present between the tips of the card flat clothings and the tips of the cylinder clothing and the card flat clothings form an adjustable angle with the cylinder clothing, wherein the ends of the card flat bars each slide with one part on a first curved slideway and with another part on a second curved slideway and the sliding-contact surfaces of the slideways—viewed circumferentially—have different distances from one another.
In a known apparatus (WO 00/05441), an adjusting device for the local displacement of the flexible second slideway is arranged centrally. On operation thereof, the second slideway is moved outwards or inwards in a radial direction with respect to the cylinder. The adjusting device includes a plurality of support members, which extend from a central support member and support the second curved slide such that the radial support members extend or contract in response to the position of the adjusting device. The adjusting device can operate hydraulically or pneumatically. The second guide means can be arranged in the operating region of the cylinder substantially parallel to the cylinder surface; alternatively, its relative position may vary around the working surface of the cylinder, in order to change the angle of inclination of the card flats as they traverse the working region of the cylinder and hence to influence the quality of carding obtained. It is not necessary to adjust each card flat bar individually; all that is required is a single adjustment of the position of the guide means with respect to the carding machine in order to set the angle of inclination of all card flat bars in the flat driving chain. The high structural complexity required for displacing and adjusting the card flat bars is a disadvantage. The known apparatus is costly in terms of equipment. It is a further disadvantage that the support members are only in point-contact engagement with the second slideway. In particular, it is inconvenient that the angles of inclination of all the card flat bars at any one time are adjustable. In this way, either all angles of inclination can only be increased or all angles of inclination can only be decreased. This uniform alignment of the card flat bars, or rather, of the card flat bar clothings, can lead to increased damage to the fibres and to nep formation. Finally, the clothings of the card flat bars are subject to considerable wear during operation.
It is an aim of the invention to provide an apparatus of the kind described in the introduction, which avoids or mitigates the said disadvantages, which in particular is of simple construction and is easy to assemble, enables the carding intensity of the card flat bars to be more flexibly adjusted and allows wear of the clothing on the card flat bars to be reduced.